Max fourth in Brazil sprint shootout: 'The car struggles on the bumps'

Published on 01 November 2024 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen will line up in fourth place on the grid for Saturday’s sprint at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri clinched pole position, relegating McLaren teammate Lando Norris to P2. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the top three.

“As soon as we went into quali, it looked like we wouldn’t be on the pace. The car was difficult on the bumps. The track has become more challenging to drive with all the bumps and that’s not good for our car”, explained the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, who does not think that a win is on the cards in the sprint. “If you’re not fast enough over one lap, than normally you won’t be quickest in the race. We’ll see how it goes.”

As sprint qualifying gets underway, grey clouds are looking ever more menacing as the thread of rain (20%) builds the tension. With the medium Pirelli compound compulsory in the first and second segment of the sprint shoot-out, the drivers can opt to do a couple of laps on the same compound as the track ramps up.

Leclerc and Piastri lead the way after the first flurry of flying laps with Max in fourth. After the second crop of times posted, Norris heads the timing sheets, being the first driver to crack the 1min10s mark.

The two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, the RB of Yuki Tsunoda, and the Sauber of Guanyu Zhou all strand in SQ1, with Max progressing in sixth place.

The second segment of the sprint shoot-out proves how close and competitive Formula 1 is in 2024 with seemingly no-one safe, bar the McLaren and Ferraris. Among the casualties in SQ2 are a Mercedes (Lewis Hamilton), a Red Bull (Sergio Perez), a Williams (Franco Colapinto) and a Sauber (Valtteri Bottas).

In SQ3, the soft Pirellis are bolted on, further dropping the lap times. The two McLarens opt for two flying laps with Piastri setting the quickest lap of the sprint shoot-out on his second lap. Norris aborts his second run, with his opening effort quick enough to secure a McLaren front row. Max is one of the last to start his sole flying lap. Despite the RB20 struggling to absorb the bumpy Interlagos surface, the Dutchman still manages to make it onto the second row of the grid in P4. He will line up alongside Leclerc in third.

Contest GP Brazil: win a by Max Verstappen signed Red Bull Racing cap!

Results sprint qualifying Brazil: